She was walking down the road she always took to go back home, humming silly melodies, when she saw something that made her stop. Sitting in the middle of the road there was a boy embracing his legs, with his face buried in his arms.

Slowly, she approached the stranger. The little boy’s shoulders were shaking, so she assumed he was crying.

“Hey, little fella, what’s the matter?”, she asked, not really thinking she’d get an answer. “Why are you crying? Are you lost?”

The boy reacted to the sound of her voice and looked up. His swollen eyes showed he’s been crying for some time, and they expressed some kind of sadness. She didn’t know what to do, but she just felt she couldn’t leave him there.

“Look…I don’t know what happened to you or if whatever I’m gonna say is gonna work for something, but”, she began, “things will get better. How do I know? Well…I don’t.”, she laughed in a silly way.

The boy kept looking at her with his puppy eyes.

“You can be sure it’s not the end. If it was you’d be happy. Sometimes it might seem like it’s the end of the line, there’s no way to go anymore, but there’s always a light. It may not be visible at first, but if you look for it I’m pretty sure you’re gonna find it! You’re young, there’s still a lot of new roads for you to find and run. Don’t give up.”

He stopped crying, and she felt relieved that maybe her words did that.

“First of all, you gotta believe in yourself. You gotta like who you are, ‘cause that’s what really matters: how YOU feel about yourself, not what others think. Then you can raise your head and proudly say ‘I can do whatever! I’m strong! You can’t beat me!’ and keep living your life. I know it’s hard, specially when you have many scars, but it’s not impossible.”

A shy smile grew on his face.

“So…wipe away these tears, stand up and look to the horizon.”

She helped him get up. The boy cleaned his face with the back of his hand and took a deep breath. He looked at her and a big smile appeared on his lips. She smiled back.

“The future’s right there, right around the corner waiting for you to greet it with this beautiful soul of yours.”

He nodded excited.

“All you gotta do is take the first step. Are you ready?”

The little boy took a step forward and, with renewed strength, began walking alongside his new companion: the girl named Hope.

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A silly little story.

It’s more like a thing for me to remember and stay strong no matter what’s going on.

The Anual Masquerade. That’s where I was standing. I really don’t know why, though. Didn’t wanna go, but my friends insisted so much I accepted just to make them shut up…dancing is not my thing. It was my first masquerade and I once more questioned myself why I was there.

The ball itself hadn’t started. We were talking about our childhood memories, laughing a lot. Well, I cannot say I didn’t enjoy that, but I wished I was somewhere else…with somebody else. I sighed and looked away from our group. Something caught my eyes as I gazed through the room. Coming down the stairway, I saw him.

So perfectly stunning, with that smile I always loved to see brighting up the room. Every step he took made my heart beat faster. Closer and closer, now I could see his beautiful eyes under the mask. Those hypnotizing eyes to which I could stare into for days.

“…ki? Aoki!”, I heard Kazu call me.

“Sorry, I got a little distracted.”

When I looked again, he was gone into the crowd. I felt sad. I wanted him to look at me. Not that it would make any difference. Not that it would make him notice me, but I guess I would feel…better?

So the music started, everybody paired up. Well, everyone but me. Guess it wasn’t a good idea going to a ball without a date. Why should I care? I don’t even like dancing…And as I kept drifting in my thoughts I saw something unexpected. He was standing in a corner…alone. I should have gone talk to him, but my shyness and insecurity wouldn’t let me. Why were he alone? I couldn’t stop asking me that. I was sure he had many invitations…still, he was there.

Smiling…

Just to see his smile I felt kinda happy, you know? I didn’t realize, but I was smiling, too. It didn’t last, though. Coming out of I don’t know where, Tsubasa were already by his side, talking to him, making him laugh. I should be the one doing that. That was my smile…

Don’t know what got into me, but I just stood up and ran out to the garden, desperate, almost crying. What was going on? What was I thinking? Mine? What was my relationship with him? None. That was all. And why was I crying? I was confused, overwhelmed.

I stopped and looked around. Somehow I ran straight to the middle of the hedge maze. I sat down on the bench, with swollen eyes and trembling hands. I still wasn’t sure of what was going on in my head.

“You okay?”

I looked to the grass arch. He was smiling at me, lit by the silver rays of moonlight.

“…yeah…”, I lied.

“Are you sure? I saw when you left running.”, he approached and sat down beside me.

“Why are you here?”, I asked after I nodded “I thought you and Tsubasa…”

“You came here alone, didn’t you? To the ball.”, he ignored my question.

“Yeah, I did…not that it matters. What about you? I didn’t see you with a date.”

He smiled playfully “Well…I didn’t get the invitation I was expecting, so I decided to come here to at least try to dance with that person.”

“So, why aren’t you there? Looking for this person you came here for? Why are you here with me?”, I felt my words come out with a little bit of anger.

This time he laughed. I didn’t understand why, but his laugh was just good to hear. “You’re cute, you know?”, he said after he stopped.

“C…what?”

He stood up and reached out his hand to me. “Do you give me the honor of a dance?”

I felt my face burn, it should be red, so I tried to hide it away. I couldn’t breathe…what was going on? Did he really just asked ME to dance with him? No words would come out of my mouth, but he stood there, smiling. I couldn’t resist that. Slowly, I took his hand and he walked me to the middle of the place.

“But there’s no music.”, I said.

He took off my mask, kissed me on the forehead and held my head against his chest. “Our heartbeat. This should be enough.”

It sounded kinda weird, but at the same time I felt comfortable, like there was nothing to worry about. In that moment, there was just the two of us, there, dancing to that beautiful music, and that was all that mattered. I felt happy. Happier like never before in my life.